Folding camping furniture



Aug. 31, 1948. F. M. LINDNER 2,448,377

FOLDING CAMPING FURNITURE FiledJune 21, 1946 INVENTOR. fiz'daM-llzazzer A GEN T Patented Aug. 31, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDING CAMPING FURNITURE.

Frieda M. Lindner, Union, N. J

Application June 21, 1946, Serial No. 678,399

7 Claims. 1

This invention relates to a furniture combination, especially a folding device for use by campers, and more particularly to a device combining containers, a table, and seats.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a device of this character which serves to hold food and other provisions during transportation, and can be converted into a table and seats for a group of persons holding a picnic.

A further object is to provide a device which can easily be transported in the trunk space of an automobile and which may easily be set up to form a table and seats.

A further object of my invent-ion is to provide a combination device of the character referred to the main parts of which are permanently associated with each other.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a combined container-tableseat device of sturdy construction which will safely carry any weight to which it ordinarily may be subjected.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and other objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the picnic device and its elements and the relation of these elements one to the other, as are more particularly described in the following specification and sought to be defined in the claims. The specification is accompanied by a drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying features of my invention, showing the device in collapsed condition but is also explanatory of the operative position of the legs;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section taken approximately in the plane of the line 3-3 of Fig. 4, showing the device in set up position.

Fig. 4 is a section taken approximately in the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detail (drawer).

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, I2 designates an elongated cabinet having a substantially trapezoidal form when viewed in end elevation (see particularly Figs. 2 and 4). There are two pairs of legs, M and it, which are pivoted to the cabinet, as shown at 18 (see Figs. 1 and 4), so that each leg may be swung either into the solid line or dotted line position (see Figs. 1 and 2).

The cabinet is formed by a top wall 20, two end walls 22, two side walls 24, and a bottom generally designated 26 (best seen in Fig. 4). The top and end walls and a central board 28 in the bottom of the cabinet are rigidly connected with each other. The bottom 26 comprises the board 28 and two boards 38, each board 30 flanking the board 28 and being hinged to a wall 32 at 34. It will be noted that the boards 28, 30, 30 extend longitudinally of the cabinet. The boards 30 are supported by bars 3|. The side Walls 24 are 2 hinged to bars 36 at 38. The two bars 36, two bars in, two bars 42 and four posts 44 form a supporting structure for the top, end, and side walls of the cabinet and for the board 28 in the bottom of the cabinet.

All of the above referred to parts are permanently associated with each other. However, there are two more parts, namely, the drawers 66 which are slidably and removably supported in the cabinet. Each drawer is provided with a handle 48.

In the :form selected for illustration and in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the cabinet encloses four different receptacles, the two slidable drawers 46 and two spaces Ell, each of these spaces being defined by a board 30, a wall 32, a side wall 24, and faces 52 in the end walls of the cabinet. In this condition all of the receptacles are ready to hold cooking, eatingor any other utensils. One of the drawers may be equipped to receive ice for keeping food and beverages cool. The device when collapsed is in condition for ready transportation. It can be conveniently carried to and from an automobile by using the handles 48.

To set up the device it is simply necessary to loose the legs from the hooks 54 and to rock the legs from the dotted line position to the solid line position (see Fig. 3). The legs are maintained in their operative positions with the aid of foldable braces 56 the two members of each brace, when outstretched, being releasably locked against collapsing. The upper ends of the legs, as shown at 51 in Fig. 2, are cut so as to abut against the posts M. This in connection with the foldable braces limits the unfolding movement or the legs whereby the abutment takes most of the strain off the hinges I8 and braces 5'6. Wires 58 which extend from the end walls 22 at it to the legs at 62 also help maintain the legs upright. The legs of each transverse pair have a downwardly diverging slant relative to each other. Thus the lower ends of all of the legs project beyond the sides of the cabinet which provides a sturdy structure and ensures a substantial support for the cabinet.

When the legs are unfolded and anchored in their operative position, the side walls may be unfastened by unlocking the latches 64 and may be swung to positions in substantially horizontal alinement with the bottom of the cabinet (clearly shown in Fig. 4). The legs of the cabinet are so long or the cabinet has been set up at such a height from the ground that the outstretched side walls may serve as seat boards, The side walls are held in their outstretched position by rods 66 each secured at one end to a side wall and resting at the other end on a leg in a little depression 68. It is also necessary to swing at least one of the boards 30 upwardly and to secure it in the folded up position by means of a a latch 70. This folded up position is indicated in Fig. 4 with dotted lines. With one board 38 folded up and an opening produced in the bottom of the cabinet where the board is otherwise in horizontal position, one of the side walls 2 when in the position of a bench may accommodate two persons. With both boards 39 folded up the two side walls may comfortably accommodate four persons. In the specific embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawing, theside walls are made up from laths 12 secured to two side strips 14.

The drawers fit are so designed that when drawn out of the cabinet and put on the ground in an erect position as shown in Fig. 5 they may serve as seats for two persons. The drawers are guided in the cabinet by two upper bars l6 and two lower bars 18.

From the foregoing it will only be clear how the device is being unfolded but also collapsed. The boards 39 are unfastened at it and moved to the horizontal position. The drawers may now be put back in place in the cabinet. The four receptacles are ready to be packed. The rods 66,

after their free ends have been taken out of the depressions 63, are swung to the positions between two laths, as shown in Fig. 1, and held in this inoperative position by a spring latch at 8E The side walls are now swung up to close the sides of the cabinet and are secured by the latches M. The next steps are to unlock the braces 56 by moving the inner ends of the brace members outwardly, and to fold the legs up to be lengthwise of the cabinet and immediately underneath the bars 36. Finally, the legs are fastened in this position with the hooks 54.

The picnic device as shown in the drawing is designed to be made from wood but can also be made from metal, preferably light metals, and from other suitable materials. My improved picnic device may be both set up for use as a table andseats and collapsed to be transported without the use of tools. Either conversion can easily and quickly be carried out. My device can also easily be transported.

It is believed that the construction and operation as well as the many advantages of my improved picnic device will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description thereof. also be apparent that while I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, many changes and modifications may be made in the structure disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, an elongated cabinet having a top, bottom, two ends and two sides. the two side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position. the bottom including two boards each tending longi udinally of the cabinet and alongside one of the side walls, said two boards being hinged at their inner edges and being foldable upwardly, and four legs hinged onto the cabinet and adapted to be folded against said side walls or to be moved to help support the cabinet.

2. In a folding furniture combination, a pri matic cabinet having a top, bottom. two ends and two sidesthe two side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position. the bottom including a central board and two boards flanking, and hinged to, said central board, the two flanking boards also being adapted to be folded upwardly, the central and flanking boards It will extending longitudinally of the cabinet, and four legs hinged to the cabinet and adapted to be folded against said side walls or to be moved to support the cabinet.

3. In a folding furniture combination a prismatic cabinet having a top, bottom, two ends and two sides, the side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position, the bottom including a central board and two boards flanking, and hinged to, said central board, the two flanking boards also being adapted to be folded upwardly, the central and flanking boards extending longitudinally of the cabinet, the top and end walls of the cabinet and said central board being rigidly connected with each other, and four legs hinged to the cabinet and adapted to be folded against said side walls or to be moved to support the cabinet.

i. In a folding camping device, a prismatic cabinet of a trapezoidal form when viewed in end elevation, the top and bottom of the cabinet being parallel, the sides, when viewed endwise, diverging downwardly, the side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position, the bottom including two boards each extending longitudinally of the cabinet and alongside one of the side walls, said two boards being hinged at their inner edges and being foldable upwardly, and four legs hinged to the cabinet and adapted to be folded to lie against the sidewalls or to be moved to support the cabinet, the legs, when unfolded, having a transverse divergence toward their free ends.

5. In a folding furniture combination, a prismatic cabinet of a trapezoidal form when viewed in end elevation, the top and bottom of the cabinet being parallel, the sides, when viewed endwise, diverging downwardly, the two side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position, the bottom including a central board and two boards flanking, and hinged to, said central board, the two flanking boards also being foldable upwardly, the central and flanking board extending longitudinally of the cabinet, and four legs hinged to the cabinet and adapted to be folded to lie against the side walls, or to be unfolded, the legs, when unfolded, having a transverse divergenc toward their free ends.

6. In a folding camping device, a prismatic cabinet having a top, bottom, two ends and two sides, the two side walls being hinged at their lower edges to be swung to horizontal position, the bottom including two boards each extending longitudinally of the cabinet and alongside one of the side walls, said two boards being hinged at their inner edges and being foldable upwardly, at least one drawer, the drawer removably received in an end wall, and four legs hinged to the cabinet and adapted to be folded against said side walls or to be moved to support the cabinet.

7. In a device according to claim 2, two drawers each removably received in an end wall of the cabinet.

FRIEDA M. LINDNER.

REFERENCES CITED "The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,501,440 Dana July 15, 1924 1,562,855 Tinkess Nov. 24, 1925 1,585,954 Widrnark May 25, 1926 1,712,213 Janicke May '7, 1929 

